Cornerstone State Bank

What Cornerstone State Bank does

Cornerstone State Bank is an independent, locally owned community bank chartered on April 8, 1974 in Le Sueur, Minnesota, and rebranded from Le Sueur State Bank in 1997. The bank operates seven full-service branch locations across small and mid-sized Minnesota communities (Le Sueur as headquarters, plus Cloquet, Belle Plaine, Green Isle, Montgomery, Madison Lake, and Eagle Lake), supported by a 24-hour online banking platform and native iOS and Android mobile apps. It is a State Non-Member of the Federal Reserve, FDIC-insured, and Equal Housing Lender, with examination by the FDIC and state banking commissioner.

The product portfolio spans traditional retail and small-business banking: personal checking, savings, CDs and IRAs, consumer and mortgage loans, and personal credit cards; plus business checking, savings, commercial loans, and business credit cards. Credit card issuance is outsourced to Elan Financial Services and debit/ATM processing runs on the SHAZAM network (including the SHAZAMChek debit card and SHAZAM Brella fraud protection). Mortgage origination is supplemented by a Federal Home Loan Bank of Des Moines Mortgage Partnership Funding Program relationship (in place since 2010) that allows fixed-rate consumer mortgage offerings while retaining servicing.

Revenue is generated through four streams: net interest income on the lending-to-deposit spread (residential mortgages, commercial, agricultural, and consumer loans); interest expense on interest-bearing checking, savings, money market, and CDs; service charges and transaction fees (overdraft, wire, ATM, check ordering, monthly maintenance); and business account service fees including merchant services. Distribution is sales-led and relationship-based, with local loan decision-making authority, in-branch service across all seven locations, and digital self-serve channels layered on top. Growth has been driven historically by a combination of organic deposit gathering and tuck-in acquisitions/mergers (TCF Cloquet branch 1997, Belle Plaine and Green Isle 2002, Montgomery expansion 2008, Peoples State Bank merger 2015-2016); no expansion activity has been disclosed since the 2016 merger.

Name

Cornerstone State Bank

Legal name

CornerStone State Bank

Website

https://cornerstonestatebank.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1974

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Cornerstone State Bank is an independent Minnesota community bank operating seven branches across small-town markets, offering personal and business checking, savings, loans, mortgages, and credit cards to retail consumers and small businesses.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Community Banking

NAICS

Commercial Banking (52211)

SIC

State Commercial Banks (6022)

akta.pro primary industry

Mass-Market Consumer Deposit Banking (Checking/Savings) (FSABAAAA)

Keywords

• Community banking
• Retail banking
• Mortgage lending
• Consumer loans
• Business banking

Headquarters

HQ city

Belle Plaine

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices7 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Interest Income from Lending: Primary revenue from interest earned on mortgage loans, consumer loans, business loans, and other credit products. Includes residential mortgages, commercial loans, agricultural loans, and consumer installment loans.
2. Deposit Interest: Interest-bearing checking, savings, money market accounts, and CDs generating interest expense. Margins earned on spread between lending rates and deposit rates.
3. Service Charges and Fees: Monthly maintenance fees, overdraft fees, wire transfer fees, ATM fees, check ordering fees, and other banking service charges.
4. Business Account Services: Fees for business checking accounts, money market accounts, merchant services (Visa/MasterCard), night depository, and other business banking services.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Cornerstone State Bank is an independent community bank providing traditional deposit and lending services to individual consumers and small-to-mid-size businesses across seven Minnesota communities. Its offerings include personal and business checking, savings, CDs/IRAs, consumer and mortgage loans, business loans, debit and credit cards, supported by in-branch, online, and mobile banking channels.

Product overview

Cornerstone State Bank offers a comprehensive suite of traditional banking products and services through a hub-and-spoke model centered at seven Minnesota branch locations (Le Sueur, Belle Plaine, Cloquet, Green Isle, Montgomery, Madison Lake, and Eagle Lake). The portfolio comprises personal banking products (checking, savings, CDs/IRAs, consumer loans, mortgage loans, credit cards), business banking products (business checking, business savings, business loans, business credit cards), and supplementary services (mobile banking app, online banking, wire transfers, ATM network, fraud assistance). The bank also offers club accounts (Gems for ages 50+ and Treasures for ages 2-14) as loyalty programs. All products are delivered through physical branch locations with digital banking add-ons, and the bank participates in the SHAZAM and Visa payment networks for debit/credit card services.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Personal Checking Accounts
• Personal Savings Accounts
• Certificates of Deposit (CDs) and IRAs
• Consumer Loans
• Mortgage Loans
• Personal Credit Card
• Business Checking
• Business Savings
• Business Loans
• Business Credit Card
• SHAZAMChek Debit Card
• Club Accounts (Gems and Treasures)
• Wire Transfers

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Federal Home Loan Bank of Des MoinescoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2010CornerStone joined Federal Home Loan Bank of Des Moines Iowa with a Mortgage Partnership Funding Program to provide fixed rate consumer mortgages to customers while retaining paperwork and servicing. This program became very popular throughout all markets.
• ShazamcoreTechnology or IntegrationSHAZAM debit card network providing ATM access and Visa merchant transaction capabilities. Includes SHAZAMChek card, SHAZAM Brella fraud protection, and extensive ATM network across Minnesota.
• Elan Financial ServicescoreTechnology or IntegrationCredit card services provider for both personal and business credit cards. Provides zero fraud liability protection, mobile payment capability, 24/7 cardmember service, and free online expense reporting.
• Main Street ChecksminorOthersThird-party check printing service for reordering checks through the bank website.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves10 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Eastwood Bank: Independent Minnesota community bank with branches across small southern Minnesota towns. Comparable to CornerStone on footprint, state-chartered independent ownership, full-service personal/business banking, and relationship-driven community positioning.
• Roundbank: Minnesota-based community bank (formerly First National Bank of Waseca) operating a multi-branch footprint across southern Minnesota small towns. Closely comparable to CornerStone in geography, scale, product mix (personal/business/ag lending), and independent ownership model.
• Pine Country Bank: Small Minnesota community bank offering personal and business banking in central Minnesota. Comparable independent, community-bank positioning and product mix.
• Heartland State Bank: Small Minnesota community bank serving rural and small-town markets with deposits, consumer loans, and Ag lending. Comparable size, geography, and product focus to CornerStone.
• First Bank & Trust (Minnesota): Minnesota community bank with a multi-branch network across the Twin Cities metro and small towns. Comparable personal/business banking product suite and community-bank positioning.
• Lake Central Bank: Minnesota-based community bank serving small-town and rural markets with deposit and lending products. Similar in scale, geography, and customer profile to CornerStone.
• Neighborhood National Bank: Small Minnesota-based community bank with a similar profile of multi-branch personal and small-business banking in regional markets. Comparable scale and independent ownership.

Broad incumbents

• Associated Bank: Large Midwest regional bank with retail, commercial, and wealth operations across Minnesota and neighboring states. Overlaps with CornerStone on consumer deposits, mortgage, and small-business banking in shared Minnesota geographies.
• Bremer Bank: One of the largest regional banks in Minnesota with full personal, business, wealth, and Ag banking across the Upper Midwest. Competes directly with CornerStone for deposits and small-business lending in overlapping small-town Minnesota markets but operates at significantly greater scale.

Emerging players

• Minnco Credit Union: Minnesota-based member-owned credit union offering personal and business banking across the region. Competes for the same household and small-business deposit/lending relationships in overlapping Minnesota markets, though structured as a cooperative rather than a state-chartered bank.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles12 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Cornerstone State Bank